Monday, September 3, 2012

On an evening in late July, devoted Utes and Cougars combined to celebrate one of the greatest rivalries of all time, mourn its passing, andexpress their displeasure at Dr. Chris Hill, University of Utah Athletic Director. And enjoy—one last time—the Classical great: Variations on the Cougar Eat for Twenty Thumbs . . . and One Red Blooded Ute.Our little performance is officially on YouTube now. (Click here.)

A little background: About a million years ago I was a student at Brigham Young University, sitting in a classroom in the Harris Fine Art Center, minding my own business, waiting for our music theory class to start, when I got invited (and by invited I mean dragged) up to the piano by my good friend Dave Zabriskie to wreak musical havoc on the Cougar Fight Song with him. Well, Dave went on to bigger and better things, like a PhD, and I transferred schools—and loyalties. GO UTES!Fast forward an eon or two, and suddenly there was a church talent show happening, and I was thinking hmmm wouldn't it be fun if . . .But there were a few problems: 1) Dave lived in Chicago. Enter Gaylene Anderson, musical ad libber extraordinaire. With some general guidelines and chord changes scratched out on staff paper, she filled the big hole left by my original partner in crime.2) IT'S THE COUGAR FIGHT SONG AND I'M A RED BLOODED UTENOW. What the heck. We tossed in as much Utah Man as we could and called it good.So, for all you Utesout there, I truly, truly apologize. I added as much Utah Red as I could to what was originally a Cougar Blue song. (Of course, back then it was actually Cougar Blue, not Cougar Blue.) AND THEN U of U ATHLETIC DIRECTOR DR. CHRIS HILL DID THE UNTHINKABLE.With the changes to the college football schedules, in essence ending this longstanding rivalry after this season, we decided we needed to dust off this relic and perform it one last time. Below are a few screen shots from the event, which was held on July 31, 2012, at the Sandy City Library.

Me reminding the crowd that they need to behave.

Some awesome Future Utah Men and Women.

Everyone is excited. (I guess they don't know what's about to hit them.)

I really like the color red, so I decided to show more of it.

See? Utes and Cougars coexisting peacefully together.

Our great announcer: Russell "Golden Tones" Anderson.

A solitary red cap amidst a sea of blue.

You wouldn't know it by this picture, but we really are great friends. Ahh, sports rivalries. They rank right up there with politics and religion.

To one of the great college rivalries of all time, may you rest in peace. And may you be successfully resurrected in a couple of years. Fingers crossed.

About Me

I am a wife, mother, pianist, composer, and writer. Because I am a natural-born weeper, I prefer happy endings. I would much rather laugh, especially with my hubby and kids. And be impressed: I have a 75% success rate at matchmaking. You can reach me at tuftwords@gmail.com